How to Assess Your Horse Before Calling the Vet

When to Call the Vet

1. Know what normal is 
   1. Temperature 99.0-101.5 degrees
   2. Pulse: 30-40 beats per minute
   3. Respiration 12-20 breaths per minute
   4. Gums bubblegum pink and moist, capillary refill time < 2
   5. Gut sounds-listen behind rib cage on left and right side-should hear gurgles within 30 seconds to a minute 
   6. Digital pulses-very subtle and difficult to locate 

1. Know YOUR horse’s normal vital signs
   1. Have a thermometer, a stethoscope and a watch with a second hand
   2. Assess your horse’s vitals before he/she gets sick 

1. Keep your safety first 
   1. Scared, injured or sick horses can be very dangerous 

1. Assess your horse from a distance
   1. Are they standing or lying down?
   2. Do they have a good appetite?
   3. How is fecal production-Soft? Firm? No feces passed?
   4. Urination?  Straining?
   5. Any visible wounds or legs being favored?
   6. Coughing/sneezing/difficulty breathing?
   7. Is it safe to approach? 

1. Assess your horse’s vitals and compare to normal

1. How to listen to the heart 
   1. Have your horse take a small step forward with the left front leg
   2. Place your stethoscope behind the left elbow and press it up under the triceps
   3. Count each “lub-dub” as one.  Watch your second hand for 15 seconds as you count.  Multiple the number of heart beats in 15 seconds by 4 to get your “beats per minute”

1. Taking a respiratory rate 
   1. Watch the chest, the belly or the nostrils rise and fall
   2. Count each inhale/exhale as one
   3. Watch for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to get “breaths per minute”

1. Taking a rectal temperature 
   1. Use a small amount of lubrication 
   2. Stand close to your horse and don’t stand directly behind him
   3. Gently slide thermometer into rectum being very careful not to get kicked

1. Assessing Capillary Refill Time 
   1. Press your thumb on your horses gums
   2. It should take less than 2 seconds for the blanched portion to turn pink again

1. Common signs of colic
   1. Poor appetite/depressed attitude
   2. Pawing, kicking or looking at belly, trying to lay down or roll 
   3. Increased heart rate 
   4. Decreased to absent gut sounds 

1. Assessing the bleeding patient
   1. Remember horses are large animals that can lose what seems like an alarming amount of blood and still be fine
   2. What part of the body is bleeding?
   3. Is it spraying out with the beat of the heart (arterial bleeding) or is it oozing/flowing (venous bleeding) 
   4. Are gums still pink and moist? 
   5. Can the bleeding be controlled with bandaging/pressure?

1. Apply firm pressure to the bleeding
   1. Cotton sheets from leg wraps and feminine hygiene pads work great
   2. Don’t remove bandage if it becomes soaked through-apply another bandage on top of it
   3. Tourniquets can be very dangerous and may result in more damage than they help

1. When to call the vet right away
   1. Bleeding can’t be controlled or large quantity of blood is being lost 
   2. Your horse us unable to stay standing due to colic pain or neurologic disorder or seizures
   3. Difficulty breathing –Wheezing, struggling for breath or if the nostrils are swollen
   4. If gums are white, purple or blue 
   5. Heart rate >60 in a resting horse 
   6. If you suspect a broken bone, especially if you see fractured bone sticking out
   7. Profuse, watery diarrhea 
   8. Eye injuries 

Basics to have in First Aid Box for your Horse

-Thermometer, stethoscope, strong flashlight-fully charged

-1-2 sets of polo wraps with cotton sheets

-2-3 rolls of vetrap 

-Box of absorbent Kotex pads 

-Bute (phenylbutazone) or Banamine (Flunixin meglumine) -these are prescription pain medications and should be given under veterinary direction

-Roll of duct tape 

-K-Y Jelly or other lubricant

-Betadine solution that can be diluted and used to clean wounds 

-Topical Antibiotic Cream-Silver Sulfadiazine Cream, Hydrogel cream, Corona, etc

-Latex disposable gloves 

-Bandage scissors and regular (sharp) scissors 

-Hoof care products-pick, rasp, nippers

-Insect Repellent-fly spray/SWAT cream